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December 07, 2020BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, OCTOBER 2020 Total residential and non-residential construction
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction increased 2.1% in October 2020 (seasonally adjusted) compared to September 2020. Halifax monthly building construction decreased 2.2% in October 2020.
Nationally, investment in building construction edged down 0.4% in October 2020, after a 1.5% decline in September 2020. In October 2020, this decline could be attributed to decline in non-residential construction which is partially offset by an increase in residential construction. Five provinces showed monthly decrease, with the largest decreases in Manitoba (-11.9%), New Brunswick (-9.5%), and Alberta (-3.0%). The largest increases were reported in Saskatchewan (+10.5%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+10.1%).
Year-to-date (Jan-Oct 2020 vs Jan-Oct 2019, seasonally adjusted), building construction investment was down 7.3% in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was down 6.5%. National building construction investment was down 3.1% with seven provinces reporting declines over Jan-Oct 2019. The largest decreases over this period were reported in Saskatchewan (-19.3%), British Columbia (-8.7%), and New Brunswick (-8.5%). Increases were reported in Manitoba (+10.8%), Prince Edward Island (+9.2%) and Ontario (+2.0%).
Total Nova Scotia building construction investment was $281.4 million in October 2020. Halifax building construction totaled $155.9 million in October 2020, while there was $125.5 million in building construction outside of Halifax.
Residential construction
In October 2020, residential construction investment (seasonally adjusted) in Nova Scotia increased 3.6% to $234.2 million. Halifax residential construction decreased 1.4% to $130.8 million.
National residential construction increased 0.7% month-to-month as five provinces reported higher residential construction investment in October 2020. The fastest increases were reported in Saskatchewan (+18.8%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+13.2%). The largest declines were reported in Manitoba (-14.9%) and New Brunswick (-11.0%). This was the sixth consecutive monthly increase in national residential construction.
Year-to-date (Jan-Oct 2020 vs Jan-Oct 2019, seasonally adjusted) residential construction investment was down 8.8% in Nova Scotia. Halifax's residential construction was down 8.5%.
National residential construction was down 4.5%. Five provinces reported lower residential construction investment for the period. The largest declines were reported in Saskatchewan (-19.4%) followed by British Columbia (-10.8%), and Quebec (-10.6%). The largest increases were reported in Manitoba (+9.5%) and Prince Edward Island (+6.2%).
Lower renovations in Nova Scotia was the largest factor in the decrease compared to Jan-Oct 2019. In Jan-Oct 2020, new construction was up for singles and down for multiple dwelling units in Halifax and down for singles and up for multiple dwellings outside of Halifax.
Non-residential construction
In October 2020, non-residential building construction decreased 4.8% to $47.2 million in Nova Scotia (seasonally adjusted). In Halifax, non-residential construction was down 5.9% to $25.1 million.
National non-residential building construction continued to decrease for the fourth consecutive month with 3.2% decline in October 2020. All provinces reported declines except Prince Edward Island (+7.9%), with the largest declines in Quebec (-7.9%), Nova Scotia (-4.8%), and Saskatchewan (-4.2%).
Year-to-date (Jan-Oct 2020 vs Jan-Oct 2019) Nova Scotia's non-residential construction (seasonally adjusted) was down 0.4%. Halifax's non-residential construction was up 4.8% year-to-date.
National non-residential construction investment decreased 0.3%. The largest declines were reported in New Brunswick (-23.7%) and Saskatchewan (-19.0%). The largest growth was reported in Prince Edward Island (+19.7%) and Manitoba (+13.3%).
Year-to-date (Jan-Oct 2020 vs Jan-Oct 2019) Nova Scotia non-residential building construction decreases were concentrated in outside of Halifax industrial and commercial but are partially offset with higher Halifax commercial project spending.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0175-01 Investment in Building Construction
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